InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Bishies Without Shirts ❯ The Fever ( Chapter 8 )

Chapter 8: The Fever

He came out of his dreams into darkness and uncertainty. His senses were dulled, clouded by pain and heat that seemed to radiate throughout his entire body, but he could just make out a faint and familiar scent that seemed to linger close by. He managed to open his eyes a tiny bit, though his vision was blurred somewhat, but he could tell that he was lying beneath a blanket of silver-white hair.

"oyaji…" Inuyasha moaned in a tiny voice. "…where's mama? Please get mama, tell her I don't feel good…"

"Your mother isn't here." he heard a deep, soothing voice whisper.

"…please go get mama…" he whispered back, closing his eyes. His breathing was deep and heavy, but it came in choked, rasping breaths. He lay silent for a few more minutes, but soon he began to thrash around on the bed, moaning quietly at first, then louder and louder, until finally he was yelling as loudly as he could in his weakened state.

"AHHH!" he cried out. "It's so HOT in here! MAMA!" Somewhere in the back of his mind, he heard the sounds of racing footsteps and worried voices cutting in and out of his perception.

"…what's happening to him, he's on fire…."

"…hold him down before he hurts himself…"

"…wasn't like this…"

"…thought I was Father…"

He felt strong arms holding him down, restraining his movements. He struggled against them for a few moments, but his strength soon gave out. Eventually he gave up entirely and went limp. As he laid quietly on his back, panting, he listened insensibly to the whispering voices that swarmed around him.

"…he asleep?…"

"….worn out, the fever's spiked…"

"…must be delirious, I don't think…"

"…Inuyasha… "

His mouth felt thick and his tongue as dry as sand, but he somehow managed to form words and get enough breath behind them to be heard.

"s'hot…" he breathed. Higurashi-san looked at her daughter.

"Help me sit him up. We'll take his shirt off." Inuyasha felt two pairs of icy hands grip him by the arms and shoulders, followed by the entire world spinning into chaos as he was pulled upright.

"mama?" he whimpered.

"It's alright, dear." a woman's voice whispered comfortingly.

"I think I'm gonna-" he began.

"SESSHOUMARU! Grab that basin!" someone yelled. Something solid appeared under his chin, and not a moment too soon. He retched violently, his stomach emptying in seconds, then again and again, until finally there was nothing left, but he kept painfully heaving anyway despite that fact. Between the waves of nausea and the retching that seemed to seize his body in a vice-like grip, Inuyasha cried.

"Shh… honey it's alright…everything's going to be fine, just relax…."

"…am I dying…?" he asked, his eyes unable to focus on any one person.

"No. You won't die here." a deeper, masculine voice said firmly. "Not from some ridiculous HUMAN illness, and certainly not in some little girl's bedroom. There's no honor in that. Now once you're healed, and we get home, THEN I might - "

"Sesshoumaru!" Kagome whispered fiercely. "Stop trying to help!"

"Do you think you're finished honey?" Higurashi-san asked encouragingly, patting Inuyasha on the back. He nodded miserably, letting his head drop onto his chest in sheer exhaustion.

"Here, Kagome, go rinse this out." her mother said, handing her the basin.

"Eww…" Kagome said under her breath, but did as she was bidden.

"All right, Inuyasha. Arms up!" Higurashi-san said determinedly, grabbing the bottom of the bright-red T-shirt and tugging it over the delirious hanyou's shoulders. She had a little trouble getting his head out the top, due to massive amounts of pink-tinged silver hair, but she managed to get it off without too much difficulty. She let the shirt drop onto the floor, then laid him gently back down on the bed. Kagome returned from the bathroom with the now-empty basin and handed it to her mother, who placed it on the floor beside the bed.

"Go get the Tylenol, Kagome, and a glass of water." she instructed. Moments later, when Kagome returned, they popped the pill into Inuyasha's mouth, chasing it with a sip of water that he swallowed instinctually, along with the pill.

"That was a lot easier than I thought it was going to be." Higurashi-san said, sighing with relief as she wiped her forehead with the back of her sleeve.

"Well, if it hadn't worked, we could always have tried wrapping it in cheese, like we do when Buyo gets sick." Kagome said sarcastically, before tears began to well up in her eyes. "Oh, Mama…" she sniffed, "What's going to happen?"

"I don't really know." her mother said sadly. "I don't suppose we CAN call a doctor?"

"No." Kagome said dejectedly. "Look at him!"

"Well, then all we can do is watch him closely and keep giving him fluids so he doesn't dehydrate." her mother sighed, then turning to look at the clock radio on the nightstand, she gasped "Look at the time! Sota and your grandfather will be home from the shrine, soon."

"I'll sit with Inuyasha, Mama." Kagome said, kneeling down beside the bed. "Why don't you and Sesshoumaru go downstairs and eat that yaki?"

"Are you sure dear?" her mother asked.

"Of course. I'm not really all that hungry anyway. Besides, I'm too nervous to eat." Kagome lamented, giving her mother a weak smile.

"Alright." her mother said. "Come along Sessho-kun. It's time to meet the rest of the family.

When the others had left, Kagome leaned over and kissed Inuyasha on the forehead. Then she rested her head on his bare chest and listened to his breathing, her head rising up and down with each even breath like a ship bobbing on the ocean.

"I know you can't hear me…" Kagome whispered into the stillness of the big, empty room, "But you have to know that I love you, Inuyasha. Please get better. Please." She closed her eyes, breathing him in, her heart beating in time with his. Somewhere inside of him, deep down beneath the pain and the fear, Inuyasha recognized her scent and voice, and he relaxed.